Circle No Cake Walk

From the nasty (and at times racist) rhetoric coming out of the open-line shows today about the Christopher Pauchay case, you’d think no one had ever been allowed a sentencing circle before for a serious crime.More than a decade ago, when sentencing circles were starting to gain a foothold in the Saskatchewan courts, I had the opportunity to cover one for the Leader-Post. It was a fatal drunk driving case involving a man who had killed his father. The circle, which included elders from the man’s community as well as a woman who has suffered her own tragic loss because of a drunk driver, was certainly no cake walk. The circle challenged the accused to give some serious thought to his actions that day and to the changes he needed to make in his life. One of the circle’s recommendations was that the 23-year-old man go out and talk to teens — and maybe stop them from making the same mistakes.With the right mix of participants, sentencing circles are not easy for offenders. And, they are certainly no guarantee of avoiding time behind bars. They’re akin to a pre-sentence report that arms the judge with additional information to craft an appropriate sentence. The circle makes recommendations, and they become one more element the judge, who has the final say, considers in sentencing.For Pauchay, who has a lengthy record, the justice system has become a revolving door. He’s got numerous convictions for breaching court orders. Maybe someone needs to challenge him as to why all that intervention by the courts, police and justice system did nothing to prevent the deaths of two children.There’s really nothing to be lost by Christopher Pauchay having to face his community — who are also affected by the tragic loss of the two babies who froze to death because of his negligence — and a whole lot to be gained.

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